Ready, Steady, Shoot!
It is 21st of January, evening time. I just landed to Berlin. The first impression is the feeling of being an ant in a big, unexplored world.
It is not long before I meet with two amazing members of the “Future of Europe” film group, Vanessa and Mohamed, who waited for me at the entrance of the airport with a huge smile and warm hugs. That was the moment when our thoughts and ideas about implementing a shoot began.
We spent the evening in a cosy cafe, discussing our plans for the next few days and further steps to follow in order to achieve a productive and successful filming trip.
The next morning we went to Alex TV, where Vanessa had already arranged a meeting (which was super organised!) to borrow the equipment to start our first Vox Pop interview. There was a long awaited moment of getting into the city. We were excited about hearing the public respond to our questions. Of course we figured it will take a few tries to get our first vox pop right. Amongst some of the difficulties was convincing people to be interviewed. However, things turned around pretty quickly!
Some people seemed scared when they saw the camera, others walked by us-too busy to stop and chat, to be expected in a bustling city I guess! Still, we got some brave people that stepped forward who wanted to take part, sometimes interested in the Refugee Crisis, which is what our film is about, and sometimes they were just curious. Once we started, it felt amazing! One of the important steps was to ask for their permission to use their footage for the film. Some of them even asked for further details about how to get access to the final film version, which was great!
Even though it was freezing to the point that we could not feel our feet, we got warmed up by people’s agreement on answering our questions. The three of us worked collaboratively, taking turns to getting someone to agree to be filmed, filming each interviewee and asking the questions.
It was amazing to hear people getting involved with the topic of ‘Refugee Crisis.’ Most of the voices were optimistic and mindful regarding the issues Europe is currently facing. We got people’s opinions from different ages, classes, national backgrounds and political views which created diverse respondses to the questions we had.
The next day we continued our filming, motivated by the success of the previous day. When it got colder, we went into the historical museum of Berlin, to take a bit of a break, but also to warm up a little!
The late evening we gathered to watch our footage, starting to feedback on two days of work, we were pleased with our first attempts at vox pop interviews.
I loved reuniting with my team members, and being able to discuss things with them in person. It was great being able to put our half a year’s worth of work into practice, as well as discuss the the film shoot that will take place in London in April. We expect it to be even more professional and well-organised the next time, since we already have something to learn from.
Huge thanks to Goethe-Institut — London for the opportunity to take this trip and the other project partners, Imperial War Museums and Greve Museum, Denmark. The project has given us the possibility to meet so many open-minded people to work with, as well as to learn so many things. We are looking forward to even more new experiences in our London residential, more film practice and just getting to make our final film!
